Destruction has a beauty all its own.
A road-ripping demon of destruction. The cruelest of the cruel. Able to hide undetected inside his bullet-proof protective shell and use its front-mounted claws to crush his enemies. Transforms from robot Mode to fast attack hover jet with vectored thrusters for lightning-fast maneuverability. Built-in, turbo-powered boosters enable him to reach speeds over 3000 mph. Also equipped with subspace capabilities. Armed with dual pom-pom action freeze lasers that convert to flamethrower cannons.
Prelude: As part of the weird Pretender craze in 1988/89, the Pretender Vehicles occupy a special place as they were Pretenders whose Pretender shells were not organic creatures of any kind, but really just bigger vehicles. So, bots that become vehicles inside other vehicles. Sometimes weird ideas work, other times… anyway, there are only two Pretender Vehicles and I have already reviewed Gunrunner, so now it’s time to see whether the Decepticons did a better job of making this weird gimmick work. Let’s say PRETENDAAAAA!
Many thanks to Jörg "The Carpenter" Zimmermann, who loaned me Roadgrabber for this review.
Robot Mode: Roadgrabber is a pretty typical Pretender robot, meaning he is relatively lean, almost entirely free of kibble, and you have little idea what he might transform into. When looked at from the back you see a cockpit on his butt, but that’s it in terms of clues. He is also relatively well-articulated for a G1 figure, being able to spread his legs, swivel his arms, and turn his head. Far from the best-articulated Pretender, though. As a weapon, Roadgrabber carries a blue Plasma Rifle, which he can hold in either hand.
That’s pretty much it for the robot mode, to be honest. Not much to see here, more or less your typical Pretender robot from that time.
Alternate Mode: Most of the Pretenders had a very basic transformation, they more or less folded in half into something that only barely resembled an actual vehicle. Roadgrabber does a little better than the average Pretender, as his flip-out cockpit at least somewhat disguises that he is a robot on his back with his legs tucked back behind his ears. Roadgrabber uses the pom-pom guns from his vehicle shell (see below) as wings, so the resulting vehicle actually does somewhat resemble a science-fiction style flying vehicle of some kind.
Bottom line: one of the better Pretender vehicle modes, though that is a pretty low bar. Much better than Gunrunner’s, though, as Roadgrabber is not just a box hanging underneath the actual jet.
Vehicle Shell: The main selling point of this Transformer is the vehicle shell, of course. Roadgrabber’s vehicle is a science-fiction style car, much sleeker than Gunrunner’s shell, and with a purple claw in front to crush enemies with. The car is armed with the same cannons Roadgrabber uses as wings in alternate mode and they can be mounted either on the back end of the vehicle or further in front. The guns are designed with a pom-pom action, activated by rolling the vehicle across the floor, but that only works when the guns are in the rear slots. Roadgrabber’s hand gun can be mounted on top of the car.
Roadgrabber lies down inside the vehicle and while you can see parts of his robot form through the car’s windshield, it’s not really recognizable as such. Unlike Gunrunner, Roadgrabber can not sit inside his car, only lie down, but that’s not really much of an issue in my book. In return for the lack of sitting space, though, Roadgrabber’s vehicle shell can transform into a secondary mode, a kind of mobile artillery station or chariot. Roadgrabber can stand upright here, protected by the windshield, and fire the guns (no pom-pom action here, though). There is even a sculpted command console in front of him (see 20th picture).
So bottom line: this here is the reason to buy this toy, if you want to do it at all. A fun little vehicle with a great secondary mode and a cool look overall. Nice.
Remarks: Roadgrabber’s list of media appearances is relatively short. In the first IDW continuity he was part of the unfortunate Decepticon infiltration squad that tried to stop the reborn Thunderwing from destroying Nebulos. Well, he failed. In the second IDW continuity he had a brief appearance in the Wreckers mini-series as a guard on Velocitron, who was also a Decepticon undercover agent. His longest in-media appearance was in the “Wings Universe “comics in the Transformers Collectors Club magazine, where he was part of a Decepticon crew that was repeatedly captured by the Elite Guard. That’s pretty much it. He can also claim to be one of the few Generation 1 figures that was never released in Japan.
One thing that was fairly consistent throughout the two-year run of the Pretender gimmick: the Decepticons usually did it better. Roadgrabber is no exception. While I do like Gunrunner more than I expected, Roadgrabber is better and not just because he can actually do more with his vehicle shell than just sit/lie inside it. So while he will still never be on anyone’s top 10 Transformers of all time list, he is as a fun toy and despite carrying the name “Pretender”, mostly manages to avoid most of the weaknesses of that gimmick line. Recommended to G1 fans who like obscure characters and fun gimmicks.
Rating: B-
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